More than 4,000 Latter-day Saints in Ghana Render Community Service

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints throughout Ghana – numbering more than 4,000 – joined hands with friends and neighbors to clean up and improve their communities.

“Together we can do good things” was the theme of the seventh annual All Africa Mormon Helping Hands Day on August 17. Hundreds of thousands of people in approximately 100 communities throughout countries in West Africa were the recipients of community service rendered by children, youth and adults of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who built bridges, planted trees, weeded, painted structures, and cleaned and beautified their neighborhoods.

In Ghana, Latter-day Saints gathered wheelbarrows, brooms, rakes, shovels, buckets and paintbrushes to serve their communities. The Church partnered with private businesses, governmental agencies and people of other faiths to provide this service.

“The reason we do this every year is to remind people around us that there is hope for the future as far as cleanliness, and also in doing good,” said Isaac K. Mensah, president of the Kaneshie Stake (a stake is a group of Latter-day Saint congregations, similar to a diocese).

In preparation for the day of service, local leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ met with community leaders to identify major areas of concern in Ghana. Many projects focused on improving environmental conditions in and around public schools, hospitals, clinics, police stations and marketplaces.

Along with weeding and cleaning the premises of the Pantang psychiatric hospital and its administration block, members of a Latter-day Saint congregation in Adenta donated several bales of clothing and shoes for the patients.

“We are really overwhelmed by this gesture from members of the Church, coming to clean our environment for us and also donating all these items,” said Alexander Agyei, an environmental officer at the hospital. “We are very grateful.”

In Nungua, members of the Church donated funds for the purchase of paints and brushes to whitewash the Secondary School’s fence walls and street curbs. The neighbors cheered to show their support for the service project.

At the Apremdo Army Barracks in Takoradi, volunteers mopped and scrubbed floors in the military hospital and replaced worn mosquito-proof netting.

“You people are not just preaching of Christ, you are also serving people just as Christ served,” said Naa Lamley Agyemang-Bediako, a member of the hospital medical staff.

“This hospital is big, and we have quite a challenge getting enough workers to keep the place in shape,” Kwofie said. “Your people are marvelous. God bless you.”

Similar efforts throughout Ghana included clearing choked gutters, collecting and disposing of garbage, carpentry repairs, cutting and removing weeds along roadsides, trimming and shaping trees and hedges, filling pot holes, laying cement blocks for a new building, sanitizing health facilities and many other projects.

Each year the All Africa Helping Hands Day grows in size as Latter-day Saints render thousands of hours of service. Some congregations in Ghana reported that during this year’s projects, citizens and onlookers, inspired by what they witnessed, joined in the effort by beautifying their own homes and places of business.

The Mormon Helping Hands program reflects the desire of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to follow the example of Jesus Christ by serving others. It brings together members of the Church and their neighbors to provide community service. Throughout the world, where the Church has a presence, these volunteers – some in their trademark yellow shirts – often partner with government and nonprofit organizations to support and improve the communities where they live.

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